


Say You Won't Let Go

by moveshakedrop17



Category: NCIS, Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:34:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23893903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moveshakedrop17/pseuds/moveshakedrop17
Summary: I know I needed youBut I never showedBut I wanna stay with you until we're grey and oldUSWNT x NCIS storySupervisory Special Agent Tobin Heath kept a very dark secret from her past and she can't seem to get over it. Will anyone be able to wake her up from the 'nightmare'?
Relationships: Alex Morgan/Kelley O'Hara, Ashlyn Harris/Ali Krieger, Christen Press/Mallory Pugh, Lindsey Horan/Emily Sonnett, Mallory Pugh/Rose Lavelle, Sue Bird/Megan Rapinoe, Tobin Heath/Christen Press
Comments: 11
Kudos: 67





	1. Probie

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, this is my first FF on the USWNT. Hope you guys like it :)

“Good morning, my fellow special agent,” Special Agent Kelley O’Hara, the Senior Field Agent of NCIS Headquarters’ Major Case Response Team, greeted chirpily as soon as she put down her bag right next to her assigned desk.

Despite the happy greetings, the senior field agent did not get any response from her teammate as the latter was too busy reading a book. With immense curiosity, the senior field agent approached her teammate and tried to see what the latter was reading by snooping from behind her. The senior field agent placed her head right next to her teammate’s head so that she could clearly see the contents of what the other agent was reading about.

Just when she was close enough, the other agent put the senior field agent in a headlock and said threateningly, “Do not ever try to snoop on me like that ever again, you understand, Kelley?”

The senior field agent, who was gasping for breaths, hastily answered, “Yeah, yeah. Now can you please let me go? My oxygen’s level depleting quickly right now.”

The other agent, whose name is Special Agent Alex Morgan, kept the senior field agent on a side headlock until the two agents heard a forceful cough coming from the entrance of the Major Case Response Team office area. The two quickly separated from their awkward position and straightened their clothes before Special Agent O’Hara approached the newly arrived person.

“My name is Special Agent Kelley O’Hara and I am the Senior Field Agent of the MCRT. How can I help you?” Special Agent O’Hara introduced herself at the newly arrived person.

“Hi, my name is Special Agent Lindsey Horan and I am from the Norfolk Field Office. I am ordered to come here by Director Rapinoe to meet with Supervisory Special Agent Tobin Heath,” the fresh agent introduced herself in response, prompting the two field agents to size the former up judgingly.

The fresh, blonde agent was pretty uncomfortable by the stares given by the two field agents and was even more uncomfortable when she saw an older agent standing behind the two field agents with a stare that could bore into anybody’s soul. The series of stares were stopped when the back of the two field agents’ heads were slapped by the older agent standing behind them.

“Morning, boss!” the two field agents said concurrently whilst rubbing the back of their heads and returning back to their respective seats.

Meanwhile, the older agent approached the new agent and uttered flatly, “I am Special Agent Tobin Heath and you must be Special Agent Lindsey Horan.”

The new agent tried to shrug the flat tone and intense stare away from her feelings and instead, tried to introduce herself to her new boss in her most gleeful tone, “Yes, ma’am. It is very nice to meet you. I have heard a lot of good news about you and your team,” and putting out her hand to be shaken.

However, the older special agent, who also happened to be the Special Agent in Charge of the Major Case Response Team and her new boss, did not take upon the hand and ordered, “Go and get settled on that empty table. O’Hara, Morgan, follow me to the director’s office!”

The two field agents quickly stood up from her seat and followed the supervisory special agent like ducks following their mother, while the new, blonde agent exhaled a sigh and arranged her belongings on her new desk. As soon as she arrived at the door of the director’s office, the three agents of the MCRT did not wait until the director’s personal assistant allowed the three to enter and instead, barged inside the director’s office immediately. The three were shocked to find the director inside with a three-star admiral, who happened to be the Judge Advocate General of the Navy and the director’s wife.

“Why didn’t you come over to our place last Sunday, Heath? I thought Megan had extended an invite to you,” the three-star admiral, Vice Admiral Sue Bird, asked after shaking the supervisory special agent’s and her two subordinates’ hands.

“The director told me about the dinner, but I completely lost track of time when I was working on my new paintings in the basement, ma’am. Sorry for missing it,” Supervisory Special Agent Heath apologized genuinely before redirecting the conversation, “So, why did you call us up here, Director?”

The Director of NCIS, Director Megan Rapinoe, did not respond to her subordinate’s question, but instead, the Judge Advocate General of the Navy commanded, “Director, SCIF mode please.”

Director Rapinoe quickly pressed the button that locked the director’s office into SCIF mode before the vice admiral continued, “Whatever I said inside this room should stay in this room and the three of you should investigate this matter silently and at the highest priority.”

The vice admiral looked at the four NCIS agents inside the room expectantly and all of them gave serious stares, assuring her to resume her statement, “Yesterday, there was an anonymous call directed to the Secretary of the Navy accusing one of my top JAG officers, Commander Ashlyn Harris, of murdering unarmed civilians and Taliban prisoners during her time in SEAL Team 6.”

The two field agents gasped in shock while Supervisory Special Agent Heath commented, “Worked with her several times before when we were both still in the forces. One heck of an operator and one of the best leaders I have ever seen.”

“Yeah, she is one of my best lawyers on the JAG Corps as well and I do not want to ever lose her. Now, I want the three of you to investigate this matter quietly, or else we may tarnish the commander’s reputation regardless of our investigation’s outcome. You three are to report to me and the director directly. You copy?” Vice Admiral Bird ordered, earning a nod from each of the three field agents.

“Heath, you and Morgan go with Sue to the JAG HQ right now and try to talk directly to Commander Harris. O’Hara, you stay here and try to identify the anonymous caller that has placed the call initially and the caller’s address. I will work on getting the commander’s unredacted service record. Let’s keep this one under wraps,” Director Rapinoe stated the final orders before the team dispersed to do their assigned tasks.

* * *

Vice Admiral Bird went down alongside the MCRT agents after giving a quick peck on her wife’s lips and was shocked to see the empty table filled with a familiar young, blonde female agent.

“Lindsey?” Vice Admiral Bird asked quickly after making sure the identity of the unsuspecting agent.

“Aunt Sue? What are you doing here?” Special Agent Horan questioned back excitedly after hearing the familiar voice.

“I’m here on a social visit basis. What are you doing here?” Vice Admiral Bird responded before asking back another question.

“Just got my transfer orders to the HQ’s MCRT. As of today, I am the newest member of Special Agent Heath’s team,” Special Agent Horan answered, which was greeted by an elated expression and a warm hug from the vice admiral.

As soon as they released the hug, Vice Admiral Bird realized that Special Agents Heath and Morgan were already settled to leave, hence she bid her goodbye with the blonde agent and headed towards her car with the other two special agents.

After the three had left for the JAG Headquarters, Special Agent O’Hara became very curious with the shocking conversation between the vice admiral and the new special agent, hence she approached the blonde agent and asked, “Hey, Horan. What’s up with you and Vice Admiral Bird? How come you call her ‘Aunt Sue’?”

“Vice Admiral Bird and I go way back. My mother is Admiral Carli Horan, who happens to be the current commander of the US Central Command. Vice Admiral Bird and my mother were in the same class in the US Naval Academy and she is like the mother that I never had. She is always there for me when my mother couldn’t. That’s why we’re very close with each other,” Special Agent Horan explained, to which the senior field agent just nodded in response.

“So, is there anything I can do on my first day here?” Special Agent Horan asked excitedly to the senior field agent, who merely responded, “No, nothing to do today. Just go get take a tour around the building and familiarize yourself with how we work here, kid.”

Special Agent O’Hara, then, returned back to her desk to carry out the task that was assigned to her by the director, while the blonde special agent decided to just sit down and gazed at her surroundings. Special Agent O’Hara accessed the recorded classified audio file of the call and tried to track the number that was used to place the call. However due to her lack of knowledge in technology, she was still unable to carry out the initial search despite the fact that she had tried to do so five times. This prompted the brunette agent to be very frustrated, causing her to let out a grunt and banged her fist on the desk, shocking the blonde agent.

“Hey, what’s going on? Anything I can help you with?” Special Agent Horan asked worriedly after seeing the senior field agent’s frustrated expression.

Special Agent O’Hara tried to calm herself down before answering, “No, there’s nothing I need your help with.”

“Uh, alright then,” Special Agent Horan answered timidly before stealing a glance at the older special agent’s computer screen.

“I don’t mean to cross boundaries or anything here, but I can help you out if you want to track down a phone number from a call,” Special Agent Horan offered hesitantly, but her words immediately lit up the senior field agent’s expression.

“You know your way through that jumbo mumbo?” Special Agent O’Hara questioned with an expression full of hope, prompting the blonde special agent to stifle a series of chuckles.

“Yeah, I got my Master’s Degree in Computer Science from MIT, so yeah, you can pretty much say that I know my way around technology,” Special Agent Horan stated nonchalantly, but the name of the university shocked the older special agent immediately.

“Wait, what?! Slow down, tiger. You graduated from MIT in Computer Science?” Special Agent O’Hara reiterated the blonde special agent’s statement in a very loud voice, earning the attention of several special agents near the MCRT office’s area.

“Yes and can you please not spread it to everybody else? I am not really comfortable with people knowing that I went to MIT,” Special Agent Horan said after saying a very ‘sorry’s’ to the special agents who stopped.

“Alright, now. Which recorded call you want me to trace the origin of the call from?” Special Agent Horan asked seriously after the situation surrounding the MCRT office’s area had returned back to normal.

Special Agent O’Hara was about to brief the blonde special agent about the call before realizing that she was not supposed to ask anybody else for help and to not tell about this mission to anybody else.

Knowing that she could not have done this on her own, she told, “Can you please wait here and not do anything about this matter for a moment? I need to go somewhere for a while and I’ll tell you what to do afterwards.”

Special Agent Horan was baffled upon hearing the brunette special agent’s words, but agreed upon the order nonetheless as the senior field agent bolted towards the director’s office for the second time that day. Unlike her boss, the senior field agent waited in front of the director’s office until the director’s assistant allowed her to get inside the director’s office.

“So, what brings you back here this early, O’Hara?” Director Rapinoe asked without even glancing up to the senior field agent.

“Uh, ma’am, you know how technology is not really my forte and I am having troubled times dealing with the caller identification. Apparently, our new transfer, Special Agent Lindsey Horan, happens to be very technological savvy, so can I enlist her help to aid me track down this mysterious caller?” Special Agent O’Hara explained hesitantly, prompting the director to shoot an unreadable expression towards the senior field agent, causing the latter to be uneasy.

The director thought hard about this matter before exhaling a deep breath and answering, “Alright, just this once you can ask her for help to track down this caller, but don’t tell her anything about why we’re tracking down this call. I need to consult with Sue first regarding this matter before reading her in to the mission.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Special Agent O’Hara said gleefully before heading back towards her office desk.

“And, O’Hara!” Director Rapinoe called the senior field agent again before the latter could even go out of her office.

“Yes, ma’am?” Special Agent O’Hara replied confusedly, not expecting to be called again by the director.

“Please get a lesson on how to use computers from that girl! We’re living in a modern and technological era right now! How come you, Morgan, and Heath still have no idea on how to properly use a computer?!” Director Rapinoe commanded, prompting Special Agent O’Hara to let out a few laughs before responding, “Will do, ma’am,” and going back towards her desk.

Upon her return, Special Agent O’Hara found Special Agent Horan still sitting on her chair whilst staring blankly at the computer screen.

“Alright, kid. You’re on!” Special Agent O’Hara uttered, which lit up the blonde special agent’s expression.

“So, using the phone tracking software that the agency has, we can…” Special Agent Horan began explaining on how the phone number identification system worked, but none of it made sense in Special Agent O’Hara’s head, causing her to cut off the younger’s ‘babbles’ as she said, “Okay, kid. I know you’re smart, but I’m not. I did not understand a word you’re saying after you said ‘so’. So, can you just please do your job and tell me if you get the phone number and the identity of the owner?”

“Yeah, I’ll tell you in a moment. I’m almost done with the phone number and location tracking,” Special Agent Horan reported shortly before focusing herself on the computer screen again.

The atmosphere became quiet and tense between the two, but all of it changed when they heard a ‘ding’ sound resonating from the computer’s speakers, indicating that they had finally received the phone number that made the call and from where the call was made.

“Talk to me, kid,” Special Agent O’Hara stated impatiently as soon as the ‘ding’ sound was heard.

“Alright, so the call is made by the number 202-783-9500, which is a payphone in the Metro Station,” Special Agent Horan informed the older special agent quickly after the information popped up on the screen.

“Pull the Metro Station’s CCTV feed that was directed towards the payphone on Monday, August 3rd 2015 starting from just a couple of minutes of 11 AM,” Special Agent O’Hara commanded as that was the date and approximate time where the call was made.

Special Agent Horan did what the senior field agent told her to and quickly retrieved the archived CCTV feed from the Metro Station from the week before at the exact time.

“Which one of those four payphones is the one with that phone number, kid?” Special Agent O’Hara asked after the feed was pulled onto the screen.

“The one on the very far left,” Special Agent Horan answered before fast-forwarding the time to just before 11 AM.

When the time stamp showed 10:58 AM, Special Agent O’Hara commanded, “Okay, now play it on a normal speed kid,” to which the blonde special agent immediately do.

The two field agents watched the screen expectantly and was very excited when they located a figure approaching the said payphone at 11:01 AM and placed a phone call of about five minutes in length, same as the length of the recorded call.

“Play back from the time that person arrived until that person leaves, kid, and do it half times the previous speed. We need to be able to get this person’s face so that we can run it through facial recognition,” Special Agent O’Hara commanded and Special Agent Horan immediately carried it out.

The caller was wearing a black, baggy hoodie, which hid the person’s body shape and face really well. Nonetheless, just before the caller was about to leave the payphone, the caller’s side profile was unknowingly directed towards the hidden CCTV camera, which allowed the two special agents to have enough feature of the caller to run it through the military’s facial recognition database. The two special agents intensely stared at the brunette special agent’s computer screen when the software was running for a match, hoping that they would get the result that they wanted. Five minutes had passed by, but the software still kept on going and they were ready to give up with the search, until a ‘ding’ sound was finally heard again from the computer. The brunette special agent impatiently ordered the new agent to reveal the caller’s identification, but when the blonde special agent was about to access the details, the database denied her attempt to access it. Special Agent Horan was confused upon the matter and decided to click over the supposed button over and over again, but it came to no avail.

The blonde, young agent let out an exasperated sigh, prompting Special Agent O’Hara to ask in a bewildered tone, “Talk to me, kid. What’s going on?”

“The facial rec database denied your access. The software says it needs a Tier 3 Security Clearance to access it, which makes me wonder who is this person?” Special Agent Horan explained her reason, causing Special Agent O’Hara to become quiet.

“Who is this person that you’re after? Why are we looking into this call?” Special Agent Horan became curious as to the true reason behind the senior field agent’s bizarre search.

“Can’t tell you right now, kid, but thank you for your help. I’ll take it personally from here on now and you are to never tell about this to a single soul, ever again. Just go back to your desk and do your own job,” Special Agent O’Hara ordered in her softest tone before bolting towards the director’s office for the third time that day.

This time, however, she did not wait until the director’s assistant allowed her to enter due to the urgency of the matter. She barged inside the director’s office upon her arrival and luckily, the director was merely having reading some reports that she needed to sign.

“It is about the mission, ma’am,” Special Agent O’Hara said immediately upon her entrance, prompting the director to activate the SCIF mode on her office again.

“I cannot access the caller’s identification, ma’am. My security clearance is not high enough. The software says it needs a Tier 3 Security Clearance, which makes me deduce that the caller may also be a SEAL Team 6 operator,” Special Agent O’Hara notified the director, who immediately duplicated the senior field agent’s computer screen to her own and accessing the facial recognition search result using her security clearance.

Director Rapinoe, then, duplicated her computer screen to the plasma screen inside her office and Special Agent O’Hara began reading the caller’s identification details, “Retired Chief Petty Officer Jaelene Hinkle, 37, SEAL Team 6 operator since 2009 until her retirement. 18 years in the Navy. Graduated with BUD/S class 808. Served previously with SEAL Teams 1 and 3. Retired just a little under a year ago.”

“Let me pull up Commander Harris’ records as well,” Director Rapinoe stated before displaying the commander’s service record on the plasma screen as well.

“Commander Harris was the SEAL Team 6 troop commander since 2007 before joining the JAG Corps in 2012, so these two might serve in the same platoon,” Special Agent O’Hara deduced when she quickly scanned through the commander’s service record.

When Director Rapinoe checked for the chief petty officer’s current records, but it came to no avail as the database indicated that there were no current whereabouts pertaining the chief petty officer.

“Okay, so we don’t have the current address or phone number for the retired Chief Hinkle. Her previous address was an in-base residence, so obviously it won’t be of any use. She doesn’t have any relatives nor does she have any previous relationships. How do you suggest we locate this ghost, then?” Director Rapinoe stated after coming up blank on how to track the operator down.

“I have an idea, ma’am. I will track this person down with the old cop style. A person like this may have a place she frequently goes to, like a bar or a memorial, or someone she frequently talks to, like probably another SEAL Team 6 retired operators. If we find this person or place, we will be able to track her down,” Special Agent O’Hara came up with the idea after the two remained in silence for a few minutes, trying to strategize a plan on how to track a ghost down.

“Alright, get to it now. Let’s try to be able to locate her before the day ends,” Director Rapinoe commanded, to which the senior field agent immediately went off to carry her new duties.

Special Agent O’Hara went back to her desk, grabbed her go-to bag, and immediately went off to the meet her former partner in the LA Police Department, who also happened to be a retired SEAL Team 6 operator.

* * *

The swift and silent actions of the brunette special agent caused Special Agent Horan to instantly become curious about the nature of the mission and why the senior field agent was not able to tell her anything. Figuring out that this might be an executive order directly from the Director of NCIS, Special Agent Horan braved herself to go to the director’s office.

After the director’s assistant allowed her to enter the office, Special Agent Horan went inside the said place and was immediately greeted with a huge smile of welcome from the Director of NCIS.

The two, then, sat on a single sofa right across each other before Director Rapinoe asked, “So, how do you like it here, Lindsey?”

“It is really nice here, thank you, Aunt Megan, but that’s not the reason why I am meeting you right now,” Special Agent Horan stated bluntly towards the director, who was already well acquainted with her.

Director Rapinoe heaved a deep sigh before saying, “You must be really curious to know why Special Agent O’Hara acted that way and why she couldn’t tell you the reason why you’re helping her with that search.”

“Uh, yeah, that’s right. And the identity of the person I was searching for will also be a nice addition for my knowledge right now, Aunt Megan,” Special Agent Horan continued, still with the same monotonous tone that she had before.

Knowing that the blonde special agent would not let this one go, Director Rapinoe head over towards her desk to activate the SCIF mode for her office once again and placed a phone call towards her wife, who picked it up after several rings.

“This is Vice Admiral Bird’s office, how can I help you?” Vice Admiral Bird’s personal aide, Petty Officer First Class Abby Dahlkemper, asked as soon as she picked up the phone.

“Abby, this is Director Rapinoe. I need to speak with Sue now. Is she inside?” Director Rapinoe quickly uttered the intent of the call.

“Yeah, she is inside right now, ma’am. I will direct your call to her immediately. Please wait a second,” Petty Officer First Class Dahlkemper said quickly before putting the call on hold.

The vice admiral’s aide, then, quickly placed a short call to the vice admiral, to which Vice Admiral Bird immediately picked up and asked, “What is it, Abby?”

“Ma’am, you have a call from Director Rapinoe in Line 1,” Petty Officer First Class Dahlkemper notified the vice admiral, who immediately thanked her and picked up the call from her wife, “What’s with the sudden call, Megan?”

“Your goddaughter wants to know the mission, Sue. She’s in my office right now. What should I tell her or should I even tell her at all?” Director Rapinoe said in a low tone.

“How can she even know about the mission at the first place, Megan?” Vice Admiral Bird asked back in a raised tone.

“O’Hara and I are both not that technologically intelligent, so we somewhat enlisted her help to ID the caller. When we run the face through the database, the software denied her and O’Hara’s access to the caller’s identification details, so O’Hara left her alone and went to me for help. Now, O’Hara’s gone to track the missing operator, while she’s stuck in the office wondering what just happened. So, should I read her in or should I not read her in?” Director Rapinoe explained the previous hour of the situation in the NCIS Headquarters briefly.

Vice Admiral Bird let out a frustrated sigh before declaring, “Fine, you can brief her about the mission. That way, the entire MCRT will be doing this mission completely. Just tell her to also keep this one under wraps, though.”

“Yeah, sure thing. One more thing, though, babe. Do you want to just go out for dinner tonight? I heard there’s this new Italian Restaurant downtown that serves some mean pizza and pasta,” Director Rapinoe redirected the conversation to their life after work.

“Alright, count me in. I think I can leave the office by 6 tonight, so around 1930?” Vice Admiral Bird suggested, to which Director Rapinoe responded, “Okay, sure. I’ll make reservations. Got to go now, though. Love you so much, babe.”

“Love you too, babe. Bye,” Vice Admiral Bird replied quickly before cutting off the call.

Director Rapinoe redirected her glance towards the blonde special agent, who apparently was looking back at her intently. The director returned back to her position on the sofa, exhaled a deep sigh, before beginning to explain about the top secret mission assigned to the MCRT directly from the Secretary of the Navy.


	2. Old Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Midway through the trip, Special Agent Morgan asked curiously, “So, did you find out what happened, boss?”
> 
> “No,” Supervisory Special Agent Heath answered curtly.
> 
> “Did you force a confession out of her, boss?” Special Agent Morgan questioned again in continuation, to which the supervisory special agent responded shortly, “No.”
> 
> “So, we got nothing?” Special Agent Morgan rhetorically inquired, but Supervisory Special Agent Heath answered again with a ‘No’, prompting the junior field agent to query again, “If you didn’t get any confession nor did you find out what happened, what kind of information do we get, then?”
> 
> “Commander Harris is hiding something and it is connected to many, if not all of her missions. We have to find that secret and that is the only way we can get her to talk. I don’t think it is the commander who committed all of the alleged assassinations, but I truly believe that the commander knew who the operator was and she is protecting said person,” Supervisory Special Agent Heath explained.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be the introduction of the main case of this story. Hope you guys enjoy it :)

Supervisory Special Agent Heath and Special Agent Morgan rode in the agency’s service car, while Vice Admiral Bird drove back to the JAG Headquarters in her own vehicle.

“What?” the Special Agent in Charge of MCRT asked sharply after realising that her junior field agent had been stealing glances towards her direction since five minute into their ride towards the JAG Headquarters.

“Nothing, it’s just that I am curious why you lied to Vice Admiral Bird and Director Rapinoe that you forgot about their dinner invitation,” Special Agent Morgan stated simply, wishing to get a certain reaction from the former Marine Scout Sniper.

However, her boss’ expression remained stoic and instead, she flatly answered, “I was too busy painting a new monochrome-concept painting. Lost track of time.”

“Are you sure you weren’t just painting for a good hour before drowning yourself with bourbon and whiskey and passing out in that stinky basement of yours, boss?” Special Agent Morgan refuted back her boss’ statement, which instantly hit the former marine like a tornado.

SSA Heath showed a saddened expression for a split second before returning to her old, stoic expression and remaining mum.

“Boss, it’s not like I don’t know what you’ve been through. I lost a lot of friends during my time in IDF and I lost even more and saw even more tragic events when I was in the Kidon Unit, but a friend made me realise that I can’t continue to drown myself in work and sorrows. Their deaths won’t mean a thing if I don’t work to the best of my capabilities to protect the ones we swore to protect,” Special Agent Morgan said emotionally as she truly cared for her boss’ condition.

The former Marine Scout Sniper would never want other people to know her sadness or to even get close to her, hence she became a loner and a very private person, which was suited for her job as a scout sniper. Despite the multitude of attempts to help the former Marine Scout Sniper get out of her cycle of grief and sorrows, there was a single fact in his life that nobody in the world knew, aside from her old boss in NCIS MCRT.

The rest of the ride went silent as the junior field agent was too worked up and emotional to even utter a single word, while the supervisory special agent was too adamant not to say a word to her subordinate. Upon their arrival at the JAG Headquarters, Supervisory Special Agent Heath parked the car right next to Vice Admiral Bird’s parking spot and the three went out of their respective cars.

“Why don’t you guys head to the conference room immediately while I’ll have Commander Harris head down there later?” Vice Admiral Bird suggested as soon as they went out and was met with a nod of approval from the two NCIS special agents.

The two federal agents went inside the JAG Headquarters’ main conference room as undetectable as possible as they did not want to stir up any kind of controversy inside the JAG Corps, while Vice Admiral Bird went to her office.

* * *

The entire office stood in attention upon the vice admiral’s arrival, prompting her to command, “At ease, people! Get back to work.”

Upon arriving at her aide’s desk, Petty Officer First Class Dahlkemper stood up and saluted the vice admiral before reporting, “You had a call from SECNAV this morning, ma’am, and she commanded me to tell you to call her immediately as soon as you arrive at the office. You have a meeting with the Joint Chiefs today at 1300 hours.”

“Thanks, Abby. Get Harris down to my office right now!” Vice Admiral Bird commanded before going inside her office and settling down her belongings in its appropriate places.

Petty Officer First Class Dahlkemper soon made her way towards the Commander Harris’ office, which was located in the same floor as the vice admiral’s office.

The vice admiral’s aide knocked on the opened door briefly before relaying the admiral’s message, “Ma’am, the admiral wanted to see you right now.”

“Okay. Thanks, Abby,” Commander Ashlyn Harris, one of the JAG Corps top prosecutor and lawyer, responded before standing up from her seat and heading out towards the admiral’s office.

Throughout the way, the commander met up with her working partner, Lieutenant Colonel Ali Krieger, who also happened to be the JAG Corps top prosecutor and lawyer, and the two greeted each other ‘good morning’ before the lieutenant colonel asked, “What have you done this time, Ash?”

“Huh, what do you mean by that, Ali?” Commander Harris asked her partner curiously before giving out a confused expression.

“You’re called to the admiral’s office the first thing in the morning. What kind of international incident have you created this time?” Lieutenant Colonel Krieger explained the reason why she asked such question.

Commander Harris merely shrugged her shoulders as a sign that she had no idea what was going on as well and she promised the lieutenant colonel that she was going to tell the latter what it was about after the meeting. The lieutenant colonel agreed upon the suggestion and went back towards her own office located a few office rooms next to the commander’s office.

Soon after, a knock was heard inside the admiral’s office, prompting Vice Admiral Bird to query, “Who is it?”

“It is Commander Harris, ma’am. Can I come inside?” the officer from the other side of the door announced herself.

“Yeah, sure. Come on in, commander, and close the door behind you,” Vice Admiral Bird responded hastily, allowing the commander to enter the office.

Commander Harris quickly saluted the vice admiral upon her entrance before asking, “You are requesting for my presence, ma’am?”

“Yeah, please just sit down, commander. It’ll be easier for me to say these words while we’re both relaxed,” Vice Admiral Bird said carefully, causing Commander Harris’ expression to be alerted, as the admiral never talked to her in this manner.

“What is wrong, ma’am?” Commander Harris asked instantaneously after she had sat down right across the Judge Advocate General of the Navy.

“Last week, there was an anonymous call directed to the SECNAV pertaining an allegation that you have killed multiple unarmed Taliban prisoners and innocent civilians during your time as troop commander in SEAL Team 6. Now, I know that these allegations are most likely false and bogus and they’re used as an attempt to bring you and your reputation down, but the SECNAV has personally ordered me to look into this matter. There are two NCIS MCRT agents down in the main conference room right now waiting to talk to you and I hope you can tell them everything they want to know completely and truthfully. The SECNAV had cleared them to know every single mission that you had partaken,” Vice Admiral Bird broke the news to one of her best prosecutors, who was just quiet throughout the entire explanation.

“Do you have any questions?” Vice Admiral Bird asked Commander Harris after not receiving any response from the latter, who merely shook her head, allowing the admiral to continue, “Alright, off you go now! If you need some time off after the meeting with the NCIS agents, you can have an early break, but be sure to finish your tasks today.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Commander Harris said before saluting the admiral and carrying out the admiral’s command.

Commander Harris’ expression turned stoic after exiting the admiral’s office and Lieutenant Colonel Krieger, who was about to approach the commander right after she finished meeting with the admiral, halted her steps upon seeing such expression and decided to leave the commander alone until the former was ready to tell her everything. Commander Harris made her way towards the JAG Headquarters’ main conference room whilst her thoughts were very disoriented and unorganized at that time. She opened the main conference room’s door weakly, but the expression brightened up a bit when she saw a familiar face on the other end of the door.

“Gunny?” Commander Harris inquired carefully upon seeing Supervisory Special Agent Heath inside the conference room.

“Commander. It’s so nice to meet you again,” Supervisory Special Agent Heath said before giving the former SEAL operator a tight hug.

The two former active duty reconnaissance operators had participated in several missions together, including a couple of highly top secret covert mission that were carried out by only the two of them together.

“How long has it been? 5 years? 6 years?” Commander Harris immediately asked after they separated from their hug.

“Around six years I suppose. You took quite a turn from being out there in the field to now paper pushing and reading reports,” Supervisory Special Agent Heath stated, causing the two to burst into huge laughter together.

“Yeah, well. It’s kind of a good change of pace. I figured my body will not be able to keep up with all of it soon after my last mission, so yeah, took up the offer of Admiral Bird to convert,” Commander Harris shortly explained before asking, “How ‘bout you? How long have you formally dropped your rifle?”

“Just a few months after our last mission together, my contract’s up and I decided not to re-enlist. The former SSA of the NCIS MCRT persuaded me to join NCIS instead and now, here I am. My life became easier when former Major Rapinoe happened to also be in the same team as me,” Supervisory Special Agent Heath curtly explained her life story as well.

“Yeah, what a couple those two are, huh? They managed to pull us out of that hellhole and help us with our new lives,” Commander Harris blankly commented, to which the former Marine Scout Sniper merely nodded to.

Those two were lost in their own thoughts, but it was soon cut off by a feigned clearing of throat sound by the NCIS MCRT’s junior field agent, who sarcastically uttered, “Okay, hi, Commander Harris. My name is Special Agent Alex Morgan and can we please start this meeting right now?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure. Sorry for the disruption, Agent Morgan. So, what do you guys need to know?” Commander Harris said apologetically after returning back to her senses.

They took their respective seats quickly, with Supervisory Special Agent Heath standing near the sitting Special Agent Morgan and Commander Harris sitting right across the junior field agent.

“So, is it true that you kill unarmed Taliban prisoners and Afghan civilians?” Special Agent Morgan questioned the commander bluntly in a straight tone.

Commander Harris was rather shocked upon hearing the question, causing her to let out a laugh and comment, “Wow, this agent of yours is very feisty, gunny.”

The two federal agents, however, were not laughing at all and the former Marine Scout Sniper said, “Please just answer the question, commander.”

“No, I did not kill any unarmed Taliban prisoners nor do I kill any Afghan civilians,” Commander Harris stated flatly after hearing the supervisory special agent’s words.

“Do you recall a rescue mission five years ago in the Helmand Province? One that was carried out on July 23rd, 2010. There were only five operators in this mission, you, as the mission commander, alongside a sniper and a spotter and two other assault combatants. That was an extraction mission of a highly informed Taliban contact of ours,” Special Agent Morgan began redirecting the conversation to a covert and top-secret mission within the SEAL Team 6 community.

“Yes, I do recall that mission. We were dropped off about 10 miles before the extraction building and we managed to rescue our HVT and due to the success of that mission, we managed to eliminate an entire Taliban cell in Afghanistan,” Commander Harris provided affirmation of the mission.

“How many casualties were of the result of this mission?” Special Agent Morgan asked, still in the same flat and impartial tone.

Commander Harris was hesitant to speak about that mission as it was one of the most traumatic missions she had ever undergone throughout her entire life.

Her expression turned sad and dark right then and there and Special Agent Morgan used this as an opportunity to push the commander’s buttons, “How many, Commander Harris?” by asking it in a louder tone.

Commander Harris still did not provide any response to Special Agent Morgan’s question, prompting the latter to repeat the question in and even louder and louder voice each time she repeated the question.

Lastly, after about five minutes of repeating the same question ceaselessly, Special Agent Morgan banged the table hard and shouted at the top of her lungs, “How many casualties did your team suffer that day, Commander Harris?!”

“Four operators died in that mission. I was the only one who got out of it alive!” Commander Harris confessed in also a loud tone before tears and fears started to form in her eyes.

“Morgan, a word,” Supervisory Special Agent Heath said instantaneously after hearing the commander’s answer.

“But, …” Special Agent Morgan began to refute her superior’s command, but the supervisory special agent just gave a death glare to her junior field agent, prompting the latter to reluctantly exited the conference room, trailing behind her boss.

“I have her where I want her to be right now, boss. We can break this case and get a confession from her in her state like this,” Special Agent Morgan stated, eager to quickly return inside and finish her job.

“No, you are to go back to the NCIS Headquarters right now and help O’Hara with everything she needs. Take the car. I’ll go back myself,” Supervisory Special Agent Heath ordered the junior field agent.

“But, boss…” Special Agent Morgan began to dispute the command again, however the former Marine Scout Sniper gave her another death glare and reiterated her command, “Go back to the NCIS HQ right now. I’ll handle Commander Harris myself.”

With a defeated look, Special Agent Morgan took the car keys from her boss and made her way towards the car to return back to the NCIS Headquarters, while the former Marine Scout Sniper went back inside the conference room to find the commander still shaken.

“I am truly sorry, commander. I did not mean to dig up old scars,” Supervisory Special Agent Heath uttered apologetically as soon as she took a seat across the commander.

“It’s alright, gunny. I just didn’t expect the interview to go this way. Where did you pick that girl up anyway?” Commander Harris responded as she tried to ease up the mood inside the conference room.

“I didn’t pick her up. Director Rapinoe and Director Morgan handed her over to me in silver platter,” Supervisory Special Agent Heath answered nonchalantly after letting out a chuckle.

Commander Harris was extremely shocked by the answer and she questioned just to make sure her thoughts were correct, “Director Abby Morgan of Mossad? That kid is the Director of Mossad’s daughter?”

“Yep, the one and only Director Abby Wambach Morgan of Mossad. She was a former Captain in the Israeli Army and was with the Kidon Unit during her time in Mossad,” Supervisory Special Agent Heath clarified the commander’s thoughts.

“Geez, no wonder she attacked me like that. Remind me to never get in her bad side, ever, will you, gunny?” Commander Harris commented playfully, to which the former Marine Scout Sniper responded, “Will do, ma’am. I have to ask you this seriously though. From one operator to another, just tell me the truth about that mission, commander. Did you kill unarmed Taliban prisoners and civilians during that mission, or any of your other missions?”

“Nope, I swear to God, gunny, I will never do that,” Commander Harris answered in her most convincing sound and tone, which was acceptable to most investigators, but it was not enough for the former Marine Scout Sniper.

She knew that despite the fact that Commander Harris might be telling the truth, the commander was truly hiding something from her and she needed to know what it was, prompting her to ask, “Is there anything, however, that you want to say to me regarding my question, commander?”

“Nope, nothing at all to add,” Commander Harris answered in a quivering tone, causing the supervisory special agent to be doubtful.

However, the former Marine Scout Sniper knew better than to just push the commander’s buttons like that again, hence she decided to collect more evidence regarding this matter before questioning the commander again. She needed to know the whole truth behind these allegations and the commander’s reluctance about this mission.

“Alright, then. I guess I’ll get going right now, commander. It is very nice to see you again, ma’am,” Supervisory Special Agent Heath said in a smile, ending the interview.

“Wait, we’re done? Just like that?” Commander Harris asked back in a confused tone as she did not think that the interview would end this abruptly.

“Yeah, for now,” Supervisory Special Agent Heath answered shortly with a nod.

“Okay, alright. By the way, are you free tomorrow night? Want to go to our usual place back then and hang out? Just you and me, away from the city lights and back to our old, free lives,” Commander Harris suggested with a smile, to which the supervisory special agent quickly agreed upon.

“I should head back to the NCIS HQ right now. See you tomorrow night, ma’am,” Supervisory Special Agent Heath uttered before jokingly saluted at the commander.

Commander Harris laughed at her the former Marine Scout Sniper’s actions and bid her goodbye, “See you tomorrow night, gunny.”

* * *

Supervisory Special Agent Heath went back to the main lobby and was about to ask one of the military guards who were stationed at the front guard of the JAG Headquarters to hail her a cab before realising that the agency’s car, alongside Special Agent Morgan, was still parked right next to Vice Admiral Bird’s car. The Special Agent in Charge of the MCRT made her way towards the car and tapped a few times at the driver’s window, where Special Agent Morgan was located. Special Agent Morgan unlocked the car for her boss before moving places to the passenger seat as her boss took the driver’s seat.

“Are you short of hearing, Morgan?” Supervisory Special Agent Heath asked rhetorically right after the two were settled inside the car.

“No, but I guessed that you’re probably not going to be able to go back without asking someone to get you a cab, so I decide why don’t I will just wait for you here,” Special Agent Morgan responded, causing her boss to heave a sigh of surrender, start the car, and drive back towards the NCIS Headquarters again in silence.

Midway through the trip, Special Agent Morgan asked curiously, “So, did you find out what happened, boss?”

“No,” Supervisory Special Agent Heath answered curtly.

“Did you force a confession out of her, boss?” Special Agent Morgan questioned again in continuation, to which the supervisory special agent responded shortly, “No.”

“So, we got nothing?” Special Agent Morgan rhetorically inquired, but Supervisory Special Agent Heath answered again with a ‘No’, prompting the junior field agent to query again, “If you didn’t get any confession nor did you find out what happened, what kind of information do we get, then?”

“Commander Harris is hiding a something and it is connected to many, if not all of her missions. We have to find that secret and that is the only way we can get her to talk. I don’t think it is the commander who committed all of the alleged assassinations, but I truly believe that the commander knew who the operator was and she is protecting said person,” Supervisory Special Agent Heath explained, which immediately induced a series of gasps and claps from the junior field agent.

The former Marine Scout Sniper merely shot a weird look at her subordinate, who then, uttered, “Wow, that was the longest uninterrupted statement that I had ever heard from you, boss, since I came to this office a couple of years ago. You truly have changed.”

“Whatever you say, Morgan,” Supervisory Special Agent Heath nonchalantly responded her subordinate’s statement.

Truth be told, the former Marine Scout Sniper did feel like she had changed for the better throughout the past two years of her life. With the arrival of Special Agent Morgan and Special Agent O’Hara, she had begun to see the better things in life and started to not live in the shadows of her past anymore. However, her most daunting scars and memories were still lingering vividly inside her thoughts despite the fact that it was not as haunting as it used to be. The drive back to the NCIS Headquarters was rather short as the supervisory special agent drove speedily, eager to dig up the truth about the missions. When the two field agents arrived back at the MCRT office’s area, they were shocked to find the director working on the case alongside the new field agent and that Special Agent O’Hara was missing from her desk.

“Uh, what is going on here?” Special Agent Morgan was quick to ask the director upon putting down her go-to bag beside her desk while Supervisory Special Agent Heath ignorantly went to her desk.

“O’Hara and I had enlisted the help of Special Agent Horan to aid us in tracking the digital footprints of our mysterious caller. We have identified the caller as retired Chief Petty Officer Jaelene Hinkle. SEAL Team 6 from 2009 until her retirement just last year. We are trying to find her whereabouts right now and O’Hara is tracking her down physically through her contacts while Horan and I are tracking her down through her digital footprints,” Director Rapinoe explained shortly before commanding Special Agent Horan to continue with her search.

Supervisory Special Agent Heath was not too happy with this situation and merely threw a glare at the agency’s director, who was unaware of the looks she had been getting. Instead of saying anything, the Special Agent in Charge of NCIS MCRT ordered her team members, which was Special Agents Morgan and Horan at that time, to follow her up towards the director’s office. She, then, barged inside the office, despite the director’s assistant words, and took a seat at the director’s chair while the Director of NCIS merely watched upon her old friend’s actions from the door of her office.

“Okay, I get it, Tobs. You don’t like me meddling with your agents, but need I remind you that I am the Director of NCIS and your agents, including yourself, are all under my command,” Director Rapinoe stated as she still kept the same smile directed towards her friend.

Supervisory Special Agent Heath stood up from the director’s chair, approached the director, and stared her eyes point blank with an intense glare before saying in a threatening, but whispering tone, “My team, my case, my rules. You should never command my team ever again.”

The Special Agent in Charge of NCIS MCRT, then, went back towards the MCRT office’s area in a hastened pace, while the two field agents merely followed their boss from behind. Just when the MCRT members had just arrived back to the office area, Special Agent O’Hara also had just reached back to the office area and she was immensely confused with the actions of the other three field agents.

The three took their seats simultaneously after arriving and just then, Supervisory Special Agent Heath directed her stare towards the newly emerged Director Rapinoe and commanded, “You three should never discuss about the case to the director immediately without my consent. Every single information goes through me and I will be the one to relay it to the director. Do you copy?”

“Yes, boss,” the three field agents responded at the same time, while the supervisory special agent still had her glares shot towards the agency’s director until she was lost inside her office again.

“Status update, now!” Supervisory Special Agent Heath barked another order at the team, who immediately said their reports all at the same time, making her angry again as she shouted, “Stop! One by one! O’Hara, you start.”

“Yes, boss,” Special Agent O’Hara uttered before continuing, “Based on my contact, Chief Petty Officer Hinkle practically dropped from the face of the earth right after her retirement. She did not hang out in her usual favourite places and apparently, she was in a relationship before, but she broke it off just a few months before her retirement. Not a single person in her former troop can locate where she is right now.”

“Morgan, speak!” Supervisory Special Agent Heath commanded next, which was immediately responded by the said person, “Most of Commander Harris’ old troop operators are off the grid right now due to a mission, but I had located two of them who went to an early retirement and participated in several of the missions led by Commander Harris.”

“O’Hara, go and accompany Morgan to meet with these operators right now. I want to know every detail that they know about the missions,” Supervisory Special Agent Heath ordered, prompting the two field agents to take their go-to bags immediately and went off to carry out the order.

Supervisory Special Agent Heath, then, approached the new agent and said, “Do not ever skip the chain of command, ever again. You copy, Horan?”

“Yes, Agent Heath,” Special Agent Horan responded in a quivering tone before the former Marine Scout Sniper continued, “Now, talk to me, Horan.”

“Her digital footprints are primarily clear, Agent Heath. Retired Chief Hinkle did not have any credit cards under her name and her bank accounts have yet to be used for just a little over a year. There are no social media activities and the cellphones registered under her name are no longer active, so digitally, we have nothing on her,” Special Agent Horan reported in a scared tone.

“I want you to pull up the CCTV footage where you found Chief Hinkle again,” Supervisory Special Agent Heath ordered and when the CCTV recording was already displayed, the Special Agent in Charge of NCIS MCRT continued, “Now, skip to the part when she was about to leave the payphone.”

Special Agent Horan did what she was told to and waited for the supervisory special agent’s next command, who uttered, “Follow her steps until she went out of the Metro Station. Track down her steps using the street cameras afterwards. I want to know where she is heading towards for the next 24 hours of her life after she left that payphone.”

“You got it, Agent Heath,” Special Agent Horan answered eagerly, finally getting her very first job under the new command.

“Stop calling me ‘Agent Heath’ and just call me boss. By the way, kid, welcome to the team!” Supervisory Special Agent Heath uttered to the new agent as she walked away from the office area to refill her day’s fix of coffee.

Special Agent Horan was very happy upon hearing her new boss’ seemingly warm welcome before returning back to her focused state with the task at hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next few chapters will not be fully centralised on this case, but on other minor cases. I'll introduce the other NCIS team members in the next few chapters as well. Comment and give kudos if y'all like the story. Have a great day through this quarantine period :)


	3. First Case (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Got a dead sergeant in Quantico. Tell the others to meet us there!” Supervisory Special Agent Heath barked an order before quickly cutting the line off, even before the senior field agent could even respond to the former.
> 
> “What does the boss say, Kel?” Special Agent Morgan asked after she saw the caller ID on the senior field agent’s screen.
> 
> “We have a dead sergeant in Quantico. Let’s move now, or else we’re not going to reach there before the boss does,” Special Agent O’Hara relayed the message and the three field agents quickly entered the senior field agent’s car, with Special Agent O’Hara driving her own car, Special Agent Morgan sitting on the passenger seat, and Special Agent Horan sitting on the back seat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is about the first "official" case that Special Agent Lindsey Horan will do with the NCIS MCRT. Hope you guys enjoy it :)
> 
> P.S. Heads up! I updated this entire chapter, because I don't feel satisfied with the old chapter. It will be better if you guys re-read this chapter again 😃Stay safe and stay healthy 🤙🤙

Special Agent Horan’s first day as a junior field agent at a new assignment was an extremely entertaining day for her, making her think whether everyday would be this eventful when working with the NCIS MCRT. She got up early that morning and accepted the invitation of Special Agents O’Hara and Morgan to join the two field agents to get their morning cups of coffee. The designated meeting spot was apparently about three blocks away from her apartment, so she decided to just walk towards the café, believing that one of the two special agents must had drove there. After she had finished her morning run, it only took the blonde special agent fifteen minutes to be settled for office. She grabbed her go-to bag, stuffed her important belongings inside, before making her way towards the café. Right when Special Agent Horan had just arrived at the entrance of the café, she had heard familiar voices of her new co-workers engaging in a ‘healthy’ verbal argumentation.

“You are never going to drive a car ever again!” Special Agent O’Hara complained as soon as she exited through the passenger seat’s door.

“Uh, please. You’re such a baby. I drive safely and properly, alright?” Special Agent Morgan refuted back the senior field agent’s statement.

“You didn’t drive safely nor in the proper manner. I thought you have changed, but I guess I’m wrong. By the way, who even taught you how to drive? A barbaric, drunken woman in the Middle East?” Special Agent O’Hara reinforced her statement as the two field agents walked towards the café’s entrance.

“No, actually. My sister told me to drive. You, Americans, drive really slowly. How are you going to arrive to your destination on time if you are driving that way?” Special Agent Morgan disputed the statement again.

“We don’t drive slowly, okay? It just happens that you drive in a crazy way and at a crazy speed. You almost got us killed just now and you almost rammed into a blind lady passing through the street in walking cane,” Special Agent O’Hara complained again after the three field agents had finally reunited in front of the coffee shop.

“Good morning to you two, O’Hara and Morgan,” Special Agent Horan greeted simply to her fellow field agents before commenting on the distressed look on Special Agent O’Hara’s face, “You look awful, by the way, O’Hara.”

“Thank you for noticing it, kid. You can thank this new look of mine due to Alex’s actions here. By the way, please don’t call us with our last names. Just call me Kelley or Kel and call her Alex or Al,” Special Agent O’Hara greeted the blonde agent back, followed by a simple ‘good morning’ and a wave from the former Mossad Operative.

“I am really starving and in need of coffee right now! Let’s go inside, little babies,” Special Agent Morgan uttered before barging inside the café like there was no tomorrow, while the two other field agents laughed at the foreigner’s actions and followed her footsteps inside.

When they arrived at the cashier to place their orders, Special Agent Horan offered, “Today’s breakfast and coffee orders are on me. It’s just a simple act of ‘thank you’ for showing me the ropes yesterday and entertaining me this morning,” the last few words earning a series of laughter from the other two field agents.

The three field agents placed their breakfast and coffee orders quickly and the blonde special agent paid for the orders. They, then, waited over for their takeout orders to be processed while standing up near the collection counter.

“So, have you found a place to live, kid?” Special Agent O’Hara asked curiously, trying to initiate a conversation just to kill time.

“Yeah, actually. Aunt Megan helped me find a nice condo just three blocks from here,” Special Agent Horan answered chirpily, causing the two field agents’ expression to be shocked.

“Wait, what do you mean by Aunt Megan?” Special Agent Morgan questioned this time as the senior field agent was still gaping at the blonde special agent’s calling for the Director of NCIS.

“Well, aside from the fact that my mom and Vice Admiral Bird go way back, Director Rapinoe and Vice Admiral Bird also happen to be my godparents,” Special Agent Horan broke the news to the two field agents, whose mouths became unable to be shut for a good couple of minutes.

Even when the barista called for the blonde special agent’s name to retrieve their orders, the two field agents still remained rooted in their standing positions with their mouths gaping and jaws hung low. Special Agent Horan smiled at the two older special agents’ antiques and took the bag of their breakfast orders herself, leaving the other two behind. They finally moved from their positions when Special Agent O’Hara felt her phone buzzing from inside her pocket.

She quickly picked up the phone when she saw the caller ID and said, “Yeah, boss?”

 _“Got a dead sergeant in Quantico. Tell the others to meet me there!”_ Supervisory Special Agent Heath barked an order before quickly cutting the line off, even before the senior field agent could even respond to the former.

“What does the boss say, Kel?” Special Agent Morgan asked after she saw the caller ID on the senior field agent’s screen.

“We have a dead sergeant in Quantico. Let’s move now, or else we’re not going to reach there before the boss does,” Special Agent O’Hara relayed the message and the three field agents quickly entered the senior field agent’s car, with Special Agent O’Hara driving her own car, Special Agent Morgan sitting on the passenger seat, and Special Agent Horan sitting on the back seat.

The three ate their breakfasts inside the car, with the senior field agent using his left hand to drive and her right hand to hold her breakfast burritos. The three engaged in an open and friendly conversation, allowing the two more senior field agents to get to know the blonde special agent better. Despite her stellar academic records, which were a B.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and a M.S. degree in Computer Science from MIT, and her powerful connections with some of the most powerful military and civilian individuals in NCIS and the US Navy, the blonde special agent happened to be a very easygoing, humble, and goofy person.

With the short amount of time that the two field agents got to know the blonde special agent, they had deduced that the latter was very gullible. They tricked her to believe that their boss had never been married, although they knew that Supervisory Special Agent Heath had been married three times and they all ended disastrously in a divorce, and that she used to have an affair with Director Rapinoe, which was clearly untrue as the director only had eyes for Vice Admiral Bird.

Aside from tricking her to believe those myths, the two decided to introduce their extended members of the team, comprised of two medical examiners, Dr. Christen Press and her intern, Ms. Mallory Pugh, and the resident forensic specialist of NCIS, Dr. Emily Sonnett. Dr. Christen Press is an Oxford University graduate, where she received her MD for attending the medical school, an M.S. in Criminology and Criminal Justice, and a Ph.D. in psychology. Dr. Press served for eight years in the US Navy, attaining the rank Lieutenant before she retired and had served with the Marine Force Recon and SEAL Team 1 during her tenure as a Navy Physician. She was the only one, aside from Director Rapinoe, that knew some of the former Marine Scout Sniper’s stories during the latter’s tenure with the US Marine Corps.

Ms. Mallory Pugh is a fresh medical school graduate, obtaining her MD from Stanford University Medical School, and had yet to take her medical examiner test. She had been assisting Dr. Press for a couple of years, starting when she was a junior in Stanford Medical School. Dr. Press was very fond of Ms. Pugh’s enthusiasm and work ethic and always regarded the young doctor like her own daughter.

Emily Sonnett, or who her co-workers often referred to her as Sonny or Son, is the eclectic and genius forensic specialist from Georgia. Her personality was very unique and eccentric, but she was beloved by all of her co-workers, including Supervisory Special Agent Heath, who rarely, if never, showed any signs of affection to any of her co-workers or subordinates. Despite her up-to-date taste of music and good sense of fashion style, the forensic specialist had actually obtained a triple B.S. degree in criminology, sociology, and psychology from University of Maryland, a double M.A. degree in criminology and forensic science from Georgia State University, and a double Ph.D. degree in chemistry and engineering from Princeton University. Like any high-powered ‘machine’, the forensic specialist fueled herself every day with at least three humongous bottles of Caf-Pow, a bizarrely concocted drink that could induce her brain to work faster and longer than before. Supervisory Special Agent Heath usually supplied the forensic specialist with a new bottle every time she came down to the latter’s laboratory to get a status update.

The three were so focused in chatting about their co-workers and their working environments that they did not realise that they had reached the USMC Quantico Base. Special Agent O’Hara flashed her badge at the marine police, who was guarding the base’s main entrance, and was immediately directed by another marine police to the exact location of the crime scene. Luckily, the three field agents managed to arrive there before their boss did, hence they had the time to prepare their equipment.

“Sergeant, please secure the perimeter of about 2 miles radius from the crime scene, please,” Special Agent O’Hara commanded at the marine police in charge at the crime scene.

“Horan, go scan the prints from the dead body. We need to get an ID before the boss arrives,” Special Agent O’Hara, then, quickly ordered to the blonde new agent after the latter had put on her crime scene gloves and retrieved the finger print scanner from the trunk of the car.

“Let’s go check the surroundings of the body, hopefully we can get some evidence pertaining the sergeant’s death before the boss comes,” Special Agent O’Hara said to her junior field agent, who nodded at the suggestion, and the two headed towards where the dead body was located alongside their cameras.

Not long after the three had begun working on the dead body, they heard a sound of an approaching truck and a car, indicating that their medical examiners and their boss had arrived to the crime scene. The supervisory special agent quickly went out of her car, flashed her badge towards the guarding marine police, put on her crime scene gloves, and headed towards where her subordinates were located.

“Update!” Supervisory Special Agent Heath shouted upon her arrival at the exact crime scene.

“The victim is Staff Sergeant Jane Thompson. 24. Worked at the Quantico Base Logistics Office. Was declared MIA by her commanding officer, Lieutenant Sophia Langston, after she did not show up this morning. I guess now we know why,” Special Agent Horan reported while the supervisory special agent made small notes on her notepad.

“Who found the dead body?” Supervisory Special Agent Heath shot another question, to which Special Agent Morgan hastily replied, “A couple of marines found her when they were jogging.”

“O’Hara, talk to the marines. Horan, help Morgan bag and tag the evidences,” Supervisory Special Agent Heath commanded before approaching the chief medical examiner, Dr. Christen Press, who had just arrived to the crime scene with a stretcher and her assistant.

Dr. Press examined the body quickly, looking for possible cause of death, while her assistant inserted the body thermometer through the body to obtain the approximate liver temperature and henceforth, the approximate time of death.

“What’d you find, Doc?” Supervisory Special Agent Heath asked immediately upon positioning herself near the dead body.

“Multiple abrasions on his hands and face suggested that she was in a fight with her assailant or assailants and the fight was possibly ended with this huge gash on the back of her head and this stab wound on her right abdomen,” Dr. Press stated her initial examination, to which the supervisory special agent merely listened upon and took some notes.

The assistant medical examiner, then, showed the thermometer reading to Dr. Press, who calculated the approximate time of death in her head, deducing the information from the weather and temperature of the previous 24 hours prior to their preliminary examination.

“Time of death?” Supervisory Special Agent Heath asked immediately after she realised that the assistant had shown the temperature reading to Dr. Press.

“About 8 to 10 hours ago, which puts the time of death to …” Dr. Press notified before glancing her wristwatch for a while and continuing, “9 to 11 PM last night.”

“Anything else, Doc?” Supervisory Special Agent Heath questioned again, to which Dr. Press simply replied, “Not in the meantime, Tobs. I’ll know more when I have her on my table.”

Supervisory Special Agent Heath nodded upon the statement before walking away from the two medical examiners, who were moving the body from the muddy ground and on top of the gurney. The chief medical examiner enlisted Special Agent Morgan’s help to relocate the body and transport it towards the back of the medical examiners’ truck, leaving Special Agent Horan alone to carry out her assigned task. As soon as they had placed the body on the gurney and secured it, they transported the gurney back inside the back of the medical examiners’ truck before securing the gurney’s position. After making sure that everything was settled, the junior field agent closed the back of the truck while the two medical examiners took their positions at the front of the truck, with Dr. Press on the driver’s seat and her assistant on the passenger seat. The two, then, drove back towards the morgue in the Headquarters as soon as they bid goodbye and a ‘thank you’ to Special Agent Morgan.

Supervisory Special Agent Heath was scanning the surroundings in near proximity to the location of the dead body when her senior field agent arrived back after the interview.

“Hey boss, do you know that there is a blonde-only officer’s club in this base? I should probably head down there tonight to pick up…” Special Agent O’Hara said excitedly upon arriving back from the interview, prompting the supervisory special agent to slap the back of her senior field agent’s head strongly.

“Ow,” Special Agent O’Hara involuntarily let out a yelp after being smacked on the back of her head, before apologising, “Sorry, boss.”

The senior field agent, then, reported as she read through her interview notes, “The two marines that found her are Captain Lisa Langdon and Captain Diana Morris and they worked in the base’s systems command. They claimed that they had never encountered the victim before today nor do they know any Staff Sergeant Jane Louisa. They found the body at around 0830 hours today, boss.”

“Next of kin?” Supervisory Special Agent Heath asked immediately after her senior field agent had finished briefing her.

“A sister who lives in Richmond. The Marine Corps had notified her sister this morning after the report was being called in and she had agreed to meet us at the Headquarters today, boss,” Special Agent Morgan reported as she returned back to her previous duty.

“Alright, then. Let’s finish up here quickly and get the evidence processed to Sonny immediately,” Supervisory Special Agent Heath commanded the final order before heading back towards the office herself.

The three field agents spent about another hour in the field collecting, bagging, tagging, and taking pictures of the evidences before placing all the evidence bags in a single evidence container and inserting the container back inside the trunk of the senior field agent’s car. They also carefully placed their equipment and go-to bags surrounding the container before closing the trunk of the car, got inside the car, in which the seating arrangement was still the same as their departure trip, and drove back towards the NCIS Headquarters.

* * *

Upon their arrival back at the headquarters, the three field agents immediately split their tasks, with Special Agents Horan and O’Hara transporting the evidence container to the forensic specialist and Special Agent Morgan returning back to her desk to pull up the staff sergeant’s service records. Special Agent Horan carried the evidence container while Special Agent O’Hara directed the two towards the forensic specialist’s laboratory, which was located a floor below the MCRT’s office area.

“Hey, Sonny. We brought new evidences for you,” Special Agent O’Hara uttered gleefully after her entrance inside the forensic specialist’s laboratory.

“Yes!” Forensic Specialist Sonnett responded enthusiastically as she jumped around the laboratory like a kid that was high on sugar.

“Bring them to me,” the forensic specialist said with eagerness on her eyes, but the happy and excitement-filled actions were stopped abruptly when she noticed the presence of another blonde girl carrying the evidence container.

“What’s going on, Son?” Special Agent O’Hara asked worriedly upon the forensic specialist’s weird action and traced which way the latter directed her sight, which was towards the blonde special agent.

“Uh, where should I put the evidence container, Dr. Sonnett?” Special Agent Horan inquired awkwardly upon her arrival inside the laboratory.

When the blonde forensic specialist did not respond to the new special agent’s question, Special Agent O’Hara stepped up and answered, “Just put the container on the floor next to this table, kid.”

The blonde special agent did what the senior field agent told her to before attempting to introduce herself to the forensic specialist, “Uh, my name is Lindsey Horan and I am the new field agent assigned to SSA Heath’s MCRT. It is very nice to finally meet you, Dr. Sonnett. I have heard a lot of good things about you and your work ethic from Special Agents O’Hara and Morgan,” and handing out her hand to be shaken by the aforementioned person.

However, the blonde forensic specialist merely stared at the blonde special agent’s eyes blankly, creating a very awkward atmosphere inside that laboratory. The blonde special agent slowly put down her hand and gave questioning glances towards the senior field agent, who was as baffled as the blonde special agent due to the forensic specialist’s behaviour.

“Just go upstairs and help Al out, kid. Off you go,” the senior field agent suggested, which was immediately carried out by the blonde special agent after bidding another awkward goodbye to the senior field agent and forensic specialist.

After the blonde special agent had gone out of the laboratory, the ‘spell’ casted on the blonde forensic specialist seemed to be removed and instead of returning to her old chirpy actions, the latter merely threw threatening glares at the senior field agent, who was again confused by the forensic specialist’s actions.

“What?” the senior field agent innocently asked after those glares were thrown at her.

“Nothing. Now, just get out of my lab so that I can do my job. I’ll call dad when I have the results,” the forensic specialist said sternly before lightly pushing the senior field agent out of her laboratory.

The blonde forensic specialist, then, exhaled a deep breath before starting to process the evidences from inside the container. Meanwhile, the senior field agent, who was still baffled by the forensic specialist’s actions, went back towards the MCRT office’s area, where she was immediately stared upon by Special Agent Horan.

Knowing that the blonde agent was hesitant to speak, the senior field agent asked, “What’s bugging your mind, kid?”

“Does Dr. Sonnett not like me?” Special Agent Horan spoke up her mind hesitantly, inducing a series of laughter and a comment from Special Agent Morgan, saying, “Are you for real, Lindsey? Sonny not liking a person she just met is virtually impossible. She is the most positive and caring person in this world. Everybody likes her and she loves everybody, even the boss likes her very much.”

“If that’s the case, why does she not shake my hands when I offered it or reply me when I ask her a question?” Special Agent Horan disputed, instantly shocking Special Agent Morgan, who hastily diverted her sight towards the senior field agent sitting right across her, who in turn merely gave a nod of confirmation.

“Wait, what?! Every time Sonny meets someone new, she would always throw her body to that new person and hug whoever that is tightly. She is never cold to anybody,” Special Agent Morgan voiced out her opinion, remembering the first time she encountered the forensic specialist.

The three field agents were plunged deep into their thoughts due to the forensic specialist’s unusual actions that they didn’t notice a blonde woman standing on the entrance of the NCIS MCRT office’s area.

“Ehm, excuse me. I am looking for Special Agent Heath. My name is Aubrey Thompson and I am Staff Sergeant Jane Thompson’s sister,” the blonde woman introduced herself after realizing that the three field agents didn’t seem to notice her presence.

Special Agent O’Hara immediately stood up from her seat and approached the newly arrived woman before saying, “Special Agent Heath is not here at this moment, but my name is Special Agent O’Hara and we brought you down here to ask several questions to you. Is it alright if we conduct an interview with you before asking you to confirm the body’s identity?”

“Yeah, sure,” the grieving relative uttered after a nod before being escorted to the conference room by Special Agent O’Hara.

A few minutes after Special Agent O’Hara had left her desk to the conference room, Special Agent Heath arrived at the office area with a freshly brewed cup of black coffee on her right hand.

“Boss, the staff sergeant’s sister had arrived and she’s in the conference room with Kelley right now. They’re waiting for you,” Special Agent Morgan reported as soon as the supervisory special agent was seated on her chair.

However, right after the former Mossad Operative had relayed the message, Special Agent Heath’s old flip phone buzzed, to which the former Marine Scout Sniper immediately answered to, “Yeah?”

 _“I have something for you, Tobs,”_ Dr. Press, the resident chief medical examiner of NCIS answered from the other end of the line.

“Ok, I’m on my way, Doc,” Special Agent Heath responded before cutting the call off and commanding, “Morgan, go to the conference room right now and tell O’Hara to conduct the interview on Ms. Thompson! Then, you and Horan head over to Quantico and talk with the victim’s CO!”

“On it!” Special Agent Morgan shortly replied and the supervisory special agent and junior field agent went on their separate ways while the blonde agent headed over to the service car with her go-to bag as the two junior field agents would meet at the NCIS Headquarters’ main lobby.

As soon as Special Agent Morgan entered the conference room, she saw Special Agent O’Hara sitting across the grieving sister, who was sipping water, and called the senior field agent before whispering, “Hey, the boss won’t be here, so you go conduct the interview on Ms. Thompson. I’m going to Quantico with Lindsey to interview Staff Sergeant Thompson’s CO.”

“Yeah, alright,” Special Agent O’Hara shortly replied before watching the junior field agent left the conference room and returning her attention towards the victim’s sister.

“Shall we start our interview now, Ms. Thompson?” Special Agent O’Hara asked, which was quickly replied by the grieving relative, who said, “Aren’t we waiting for Special Agent Heath, Special Agent O’Hara?”

“Apparently, Special Agent Heath will not make it to this interview, ma’am, so if you are ready I would like to start now,” Special Agent O’Hara answered, to which the grieving sister merely responded with a nod.

The grieving sister and the senior field agent, then, sat down across each other before Special Agent O’Hara decided to begin the interview, “So, Ms. Thompson, when did you last communicate with your sister?”

“I called her just a little over a week ago. Right after her return from Afghanistan for her third tour,” the grieving sister answered, with hiccups hindering her sentence several times.

The grieving sister’s tears began to flow rapidly, prompting Special Agent O’Hara to grab a tissue box for the former and tried to calm the former down.

After the series of tears had eased, Special Agent O’Hara decided to continue the interview, “Was there anything unusual about the call? Did she tell you about any enemies or any problems that she encountered back in Afghanistan?”

“No, nothing. Everybody loves Jane and I wouldn’t think of anybody that might want to hurt her. Jane was so happy to be back, but she was tired, so we didn’t talk for long. We promised to meet sometime this week to catch up, but …” the grieving sister answered, but started to tear up again after saying the last word.

“Do you need some time for yourself first, Ms. Thompson? We can talk to you later if you want to,” Special Agent O’Hara uttered, deducing that she would not be able to get much information from the grieving sister if the latter was in that condition.

“No, no. I’m alright. I can talk now. I want to get whoever is responsible for my sister’s death as soon as possible,” the grieving sister said after trying to stop her tears from flowing and attempting to be brave.

“Alright, then. Do you know the people that Jane usually hangs out with? Or whether she is romantically involved with someone else?” Special Agent O’Hara asked posed another question, to which the grieving sister instantly nodded to.

“She told me she is seeing someone new, a reporter that was attached to her squad. Her name is Christine Jacobson, but the marines call her by CJ,” the deceased’s sister replied, in which the junior field agent immediately wrote down in order to immediately look upon it after the interview.

“Where were you last night from 9 to 11 p.m., Ms. Thompson?” Special Agent O’Hara inquired, which was quickly replied by the grieving sister, “I was at Rocky’s Bar downtown until around 11.30 p.m.. My firm had just secured a huge government contract deal, so the boss took us out to celebrate.”

“Alright, thank you for your time, Ms. Thompson. If you can remember anything else about your sister, please contact me,” Special Agent O’Hara uttered before giving her card to the grieving sister and continuing, “Special Agent Daxter will show you the way out.”

The grieving sister left the conference room alongside the rookie special agent while the senior field agent returned back to the MCRT office’s area.

Once she had returned back to her desk, Special Agent O’Hara immediately searched the name ‘Christine Jacobson’ on the agency’s database to try to find the background information on the deceased’s lover.

* * *

Meanwhile, the two junior field agents were having a blast of a ride, bonding together due to their common likeness, such as how they were raised strictly by military parents, how they have a bizarre interest in vegan cuisines, and how they love listening to classical music and going to operas.

“I always go to the Met Opera at least twice a year now. My sister always wanted to be an opera singer, so Mom always takes my sister and I to the opera on my sister’s birthday,” Special Agent Morgan told the blonde special agent, who instantly become very excited as she drove the car.

“Wow, that’s amazing! Why don’t you, me, and your sister go there together next month? My most favourite opera is _Le Nozze di Figaro_ and they’re having it starting next month. I can score us some VIP tickets there,” Special Agent Horan invited with pure excitement in her tone.

However, Special Agent Morgan became very uneasy after hearing the invitation and she replied carefully, “Uh, Janice passed away five years ago in a raid gone wrong back in Israel. My Mother, Director Morgan, wasn’t really keen on having a daughter who becomes a soprano, so Janice had to follow the family’s legacy. She was a Lieutenant in the Israeli Army when she died.”

“Oh, I don’t know that. I’m sorry for your loss and I’m truly sorry for bringing that subject up,” Special Agent Horan instantly felt guilty upon extending the invitation.

Nonetheless, Special Agent Morgan immediately uttered, “Hey, it’s alright. Don’t feel bad. Besides, I’m over it already. So, right now, every year, I still go to the opera to celebrate her birthday, so if you can score those tickets, I’ll be glad to go there with you. Janice’s birthday is sometime next month actually, so if your offer still stands, I’ll definitely go there with you.”

Special Agent Horan smiled again upon hearing the former Mossad operative’s words and instantaneously said, “Consider it done, Al!”

Soon after, the two junior field agents had finally arrived to the Quantico Base Logistics Office, where the victim was stationed before her death, to meet up with the deceased’s commanding officer, First Lieutenant Langston. After flashing their badges to the office’s security, the two NCIS field agents were quickly escorted to the lieutenant’s office.

Special Agent Morgan knocked on the office’s door before opening it and asking, “Lieutenant Langston?”

“That’s me,” First Lieutenant Langston replied nonchalantly before looking up at the two agents, standing up, shaking the two field agents’ hands, and continuing, “You two must be from NCIS. Please have a seat.”

The two NCIS agents took their respective seats across the lieutenant’s chair while the marine closed her office’s door and shut her blinds.

“I am assuming that you two are here because of Staff Sergeant Thompson’s death?” First Lieutenant Langston initiated the conversation.

“Yes, my name is Special Agent Morgan and this is Special Agent Horan. We would like to ask a few questions, if that’s alright, lieutenant,” Special Agent Morgan uttered, which was hastily replied by the marine, “Yeah, anything. You have my and this office’s full cooperation to find the culprit who did this to Jane.”

“Can you tell us more about Staff Sergeant Thompson? Her performance and her dynamics with the rest of the squad members and to yourself?” Special Agent Morgan started her line of questioning.

“Jane is one of the most tenacious and perfectionist person I have ever met in my entire life, but she is also one of the kindest and most selfless person in this world. She never got angry with anybody on her squad, even though they often screwed up, and she would always shift the blame for anything that her squad did to herself. She also gives very mean advices to everybody, so she’s practically a saint sent from heaven to be with us. Everybody likes her and her performance was always stellar. She worked beyond what she was asked to and that’s why she’s always up for promotion every time she had completed all the requirements. I even put her up for Enlisted Commissioning Program and she was supposed to start next summer,” First Lieutenant Langston described with tears trickling down her eyes.

“Do you know whether she has any enemies from another squad or with the civilian contractors or with the locals in Afghanistan?” Special Agent Horan asked this time.

“Nope, not that I can tell. Jane even started dating with that Quantico Tribune reporter attached to her squad, Christine Jacobson, if I’m not mistaken. The two were already really close for a few months before they made it official and I remembered our entire troop celebrated their relationship with a feast and late-night party,” First Lieutenant Langston answered with a lost gaze to the office’s ceiling and a smile on her face.

The two junior field agents quickly wrote the name down before Special Agent Morgan proceeded, “Do you know who Staff Sergeant Thompson is close to in the squad? Anyone she confide to with her problems and deepest secrets?”

“Jane is a pretty private person, so she doesn’t really share with anyone, but you could probably try to ask Hanna. Retired Captain Hanna Morrison. The two grew up together and Captain Morrison was Staff Sergeant Thompson’s CO before transferring to my troop,” First Lieutenant Langston replied, which was hastily followed up by Special Agent Horan’s question, “Do you know where we can find the retired captain, lieutenant?”

“Captain Morrison still live in-base, Agent Horan, because her retirement papers were still yet to be completed. I am about to meet her for lunch in five minutes, though,” First Lieutenant Langston responded.

“Do you mind if we tag along with you to ask a few questions to Captain Morrison?” Special Agent Morgan asked, to which the first lieutenant replied with a nod.

The three soon headed out of the first lieutenant’s office and headed towards a diner located near the Quantico Base Logistics Office’s building. The newly retired captain quickly waved her hand at the approaching first lieutenant, but was baffled to see two NCIS agents trailing behind the first lieutenant.

“I wasn’t aware that we’re bringing guests to our lunch, Soph,” the newly retired captain uttered sarcastically, prompting the first lieutenant to give the former an eye roll.

“Behave nicely, Han. These are Special Agents Morgan and Horan and they’re here to ask you a few questions about Jane,” the first lieutenant explained the two’s purpose.

“Geez, what did Jane do to involve NCIS? Does that person finally eat an apple from the Bad Tree and turn evil?” the newly retired captain continued on her ‘sarcastic’ way of conversation.

The two NCIS field agents were shocked to discover that the newly retired captain apparently had no idea about the staff sergeant’s demise, while the first lieutenant carefully announced, “Jane’s dead, Han. NCIS found her body at the running trail this morning.”

“What?! The dead runner is Jane?” Captain Morrison uttered in shock.

“Yes, Captain Morrison. So, can we have a moment of your time to ask you a few questions about Staff Sergeant Thompson?” Special Agent Morgan replied this time.

“Yes, yes, sure,” Captain Morrison said quickly in response before standing up and looking at the first lieutenant, “Just order anything for me, Soph. These agents and I are going to have a chat for a while.”

The first lieutenant simply nodded at the newly retired captain’s statement and the three headed out of the diner and talked near the diner’s parking lot.

“Has Aubrey been notified about this?” Captain Morrison asked instantly, referring to the victim’s sister.

“Yes, we have notified Ms. Thompson of the news, captain. She is in NCIS Headquarters right now as we speak, talking to one of our agents,” Special Agent Morgan answered, quickly calming the captain’s chaotic mind for a short while.

“So, what do you guys want to know about Jane?” Captain Morrison initiated, allowing Special Agent Morgan to quickly pose a question, “Has Staff Sergeant Thompson tell you any problems that she’s encountering when she was stationed in Afghanistan?”

“Well, she didn’t exactly tell me that she has problems there, but Jane called me yesterday afternoon. She asked me to meet up with her for dinner tonight because she needs to tell me something that is very important,” Captain Morrison stated, instantly intriguing the two NCIS field agents.

“At first I thought it’s because Jane is asking me for help on how to propose to her girlfriend, but when I teased her about it, she said it’s not about that. She said it’s not safe for her to tell me over the call, that’s why she arranged the meeting for tonight. We were supposed to meet up at Virginia Beach,” Captain Morrison continued in a serious face.

“Do you have any idea on what it could be, Captain Morrison? Possibly from any rumours that you hear from Afghanistan,” Special Agent Horan questioned this time.

“Nope, I completely have no idea about it, but you can probably ask Jane’s girlfriend about this. The two share almost everything to each other, so the reporter girlfriend will probably know a thing or two about what Jane would’ve told me tonight,” Captain Morrison answered.

“One more thing, though, captain. Where were you last night between 9 to 11 p.m.?” Special Agent Morgan asked, which was hastily replied by the newly retired marine, “Watching Netflix with my girlfriend in my house, Agent Morgan.”

“What were you watching?” Special Agent Horan shot the question quickly.

“Stranger Things and my girlfriend’s name is Paige Langston,” the newly retired captain replied again, before continuing, “Her phone number’s 276-614-4389. You can give her a call to confirm my whereabouts.”

“Alright, thank you for your time, captain. If there’s anything else that you can remember, please do give us a call,” Special Agent Morgan said before handing over her card towards the newly retired captain.

“Yeah, of course. Have a nice day, agents,” Captain Morrison uttered for the last time before heading back inside the diner.

“Do you believe her, Al?” Special Agent Horan instantly asked after the newly retired captain was not within hearing range.

“I guess so, but we still need to verify her alibi. We also need to find this Christine Jacobson woman, because she can hold the key to the solution of this case,” Special Agent Morgan stated, which was followed by a nod of approval from the blonde junior field agent.

The two junior field agents quickly hit the pedal to the metal and sped their way back towards the NCIS Headquarters to provide their boss’ an update on the case and to follow up with the new leads that they just obtained.

The two junior field agents managed to arrive back to the NCIS Headquarters quickly and as soon as they arrived back, Special Agent O’Hara asked, “What do you guys learned?”

“That our staff sergeant is in a new relationship and that she is troubled about something. Aside from that, she is basically an angel,” Special Agent Morgan summarised quickly.

“Yeah, Christine Jacobson, the Quantico Tribune reporter. The staff sergeant’s sister told me about it, but I can’t seem to be able to search for the person’s complete records in our database,” Special Agent O’Hara uttered as she was still struggling with her computer skills.

Special Agents Horan and Morgan laughed upon hearing the statement, prompting the senior field agent to throw a ‘threatening’ glare to the two junior field agents.

The blonde junior field agent, then, nonchalantly said, “I’ll handle it, Kel, but seriously, you really need to learn on how to use a computer properly.”

“Yeah, no thanks, kid. I don’t really think there’s a need for me to use computers beside from sending e-mails and watching movies and stuffs,” Special Agent O’Hara refuted the statement before directing her words to the former Mossad operative, “And don’t laugh at me like that, Al. Don’t pretend as if you can do a complete search without Sonny’s help.”

The senior field agent’s last words immediately shut Special Agent Morgan up and this prompted Special Agent Horan to laugh even louder and harder before the blonde junior field agent commented, “You two are just the same,” and the three resumed to do their respective work.

On the other hand, as soon as she arrived in the NCIS Headquarters’ morgue, which was located two floors below the MCRT office’s area, the tall, muscular, brunette supervisory special agent said, “Got a confirmation for the cause of death, Doc?”

“Ah yes, blunt force trauma to the side of the head. The stab wound to the right abdomen is done post-mortem, presumably just to confirm that the staff sergeant will surely die,” Dr. Press reported while utilising her forceps to retrieve small fragments of what used to be the weapon that was used to hit the side of the staff sergeant’s head and dispose the fragments on a petri dish held by her assistant.

“You have an idea on what could be the weapon, Doc?” Supervisory Special Agent Heath asked, to which the assistant medical examiner, Ms. Mallory Pugh, answered, “Possibly something made out of rusty metal, Agent Heath. I will bring it up to Sonny right now for her to analyse,” before she went out of the morgue with the new evidence.

“That kid is very brilliant, Tobs. I truly believe that she can continue my footsteps later when I retired,” Dr. Press talked about her assistant to the brunette supervisory special agent with pride and a huge smile.

Supervisory Special Agent Heath hummed nonchalantly before asking, “Anything else you might have for me, Doc?”

“We managed to collect some DNA samples of the staff sergeant’s assailants from under her fingernails. Ms. Pugh had sent it up to Sonny for analysis, but I want you to take a look at this, Tobs,” Dr. Press responded quickly before pointing to the bizarre-shaped scars all over the staff sergeant’s torso.

“Do you know what caused this?” Supervisory Special Agent Heath instantly queried as soon as she took a closer look at the scars using a magnifying glass.

“Some of these wounds are caused by bomb shrapnel sustained due to an IED explosion, but some of the cuts shaped similar to the shrapnel are not caused by the IED. My best guess is that these wounds are due to sharp-edged materials, but these are not a standard-issued knife or the usual weapons. Some of the wounds were in the process of healing, which leads me to believe that the staff sergeant could be a victim of an abuse that had been going on for a while, at least from 3 months prior to her death,” Dr. Press explained her deduction, to which the supervisory special agent immediately commented upon, “So, these wounds were caused when she was still deployed?”

“It seems so, Tobs. I had Sonnett duplicate the shape of these scars so that she could try to match it with her software,” Dr. Press responded shortly, cueing the supervisory special agent that her report was done and that the latter could go.

Supervisory Special Agent Heath left the morgue and said, “Thanks, Doc!” as soon as Dr. Press finished her assessment on the autopsy to return back to the NCIS MCRT office’s area.

* * *

Right when the NCIS Headquarters’ MCRT’s Special Agent in Charge arrived back to the office’s area, she immediately ordered, “Update!”

“Staff Sergeant Jane Thompson. 24. Spotless record. Stellar evaluation reports and grades from her CO and she’s well-liked by her peers and superiors. She is in the shortlist for promotion to gunnery sergeant. She is also apparently up for Silver Star and Purple Heart, boss. Shielded two wounded marines with her body when an IED was exploding near her. Was transported back to Germany immediately afterwards for surgery,” Special Agent O’Hara reported initially as she showed the staff sergeant’s service record on the office’s main plasma.

“Her sister told us that the staff sergeant had no problem during her last deployment and that she is in a new relationship with a reporter that she met during her last deployment. Her CO, First Lieutenant Langston, and her former CO, Retired Captain Hanna Morrison, both speak very highly of her and they also said that everybody in her squad like her. Lieutenant Langston told us that there aren’t any problems back in Afghanistan, boss. However, Captain Morrison noted that the staff sergeant was troubled about something and that she was going to tell the captain about this matter in person tonight,” Special Agent Morgan added.

When a ‘ding’ sound was heard from her computer, Special Agent Horan immediately duplicated her screen to the office’s main plasma and displayed the results while explaining, “Christine Marie Jacobson. 23. Reporter for the Quantico Tribune. Attached to Staff Sergeant Thompson’s squad for 2 months. She returned back to the country alongside the members of Staff Sergeant Thompson’s squad. Lives in an apartment at 123 Donk Street,” and writing down the exact address of the reporter on a post-it note.

“O’Hara, Morgan, check with Sonnett and see what she finds,” the Special Agent in Charge of the squad ordered initially, which was quickly replied by the duo, “On it, boss!”

Supervisory Special Agent Heath, then, commanded to the blonde agent, “Horan, you’re with me. Come on, let’s go!”

Special Agent Horan, who was frozen at her spot for a few seconds, immediately grabbed her go-to bag as quickly as she could and rushed over towards the elevator before it was closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is a long and slow moving chapter hehe. Comment if you guys have any suggestion on how this story can improve and give kudos if y'all like it. I'll update this story as fast as I can, but in the meantime, stay safe during the quarantine period wherever you are 👍


End file.
